Thursday, September 26, 2013

I absolutely love the fall. It's a close second to my summer, which is my favorite. The weather is great and there are so many fun fall family activities (say that 3 times fast!) that we do every year. I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to go apple picking or pumpkin picking this year because I'm so pregnant. I thought I'd be too big and uncomfortbale to want to do anything. As it turns out, aside from some normal aches and pains, I actually feel better now than I did during the summer.

So, rather than miss out on anything, we just made sure to do everything on the earlier side. (I really didn't want to go into labor in the middle of an apple orchard, ya know?) We went apple picking last week at Pennings. It was a gorgeous day and we had a ball. (This mama was exhausted to a whole new level after that day, but it was so worth it.)

I spent a lot of time waddling after Jon and Gia, snapping pictures.

Gia loved to pick the apples right off the tree and chuck them in our bag.

She got a few rides on Daddy's shoulders so she could reach the high ones!

And of course there was quite of bit of testing the apples...

After we picked approximately 435 pounds of apples we headed to the petting zoo for a bit. Gia had fun with the animals and playing on all the little outside toys they have.

And then we came home and made a bazillion apple pies. Seriously. We made 2 the first day, 2 the next day for Jon to bring to work, 1 a few days later to bring to my mom and some mini apple pies for dinner at a friend's house we went to on Sunday. And we still have apples left over!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Maternity Clothes: They don't really fit anymore! I'm definitely carrying way out front and lower this time and many of my shirts aren't long enough anymore. Or, they start out ok in the morning and by the evening I'm feeling a cool breeze and a half inch of belly is showing. This didn't happen until the very end with Gia.

Sleep: Still some lower back and pelvis pain. I just waddle, waddle, waddle.

Feelings/Mood: Still feeling happy & incredibly blessed. I've been a little moodier lately, but I think it's the lack of sleep (see below).

Symptoms/Health: Overall, very good. Blood pressure is still low, weight gain is normal, and baby boy
moves like crazy. He has finally moved to the head down position and it's much more comfortable for me.

Still having minor issues with spotting, but I had another
ultrasound a few weeks ago and everything looks good. He was about 4.5 lbs at that point.

Sleeping is tough. I can't get comfortable and I wake up a lot.

Food Cravings/Aversions: Back to wanting salads all.the.time. But, there's so little room in my stomach, I really don't eat a lot at one time. I tend to graze all day though.

What I Miss: Sleeping on my stomach, my non-pregnancy clothes, being able to bend over.

Movement: Still feeling tons!
Baby boy is active all the time. The movements changed about a month ago and they're less kicks and jabs and more rolling movements now. He's running out of room in there!

Belly: Low and totally out front!

Best Moment this week (pregnancy-related): I made it to 35/35: 35 weeks of pregnancy down & only 35 days to go. In my case it's actually 28 days to go. I cannot believe he'll be here in one month!

Nursery is pretty much done (we got a rug & a lamp last week, which were the last 2 things we needed). Pictures coming soon.

What I look forward to: Meeting this little guy. I'm so curious to see what he'll look like!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Baby boy is going to be here in less than 5 weeks and we're pretty much ready over here. His room is looking great and I'm hoping to have pictures for you very soon.

The only thing left to do is wash his clothes (and pick up a few odds and ends). Thanks to my wonderful sprinkle this past weekend, I have TONS to wash!

When we found out it was a boy, my mom had the idea to have a small get together to celebrate his arrival--a sprinkle, instead of a shower. I was all for it: I wanted to celebrate the arrival of our second child just as much as we did with Gia. It's not about the gifts--we have nearly everything we need. A baby is a blessing, no matter if it's your first or second or fifth and I didn't want the impending birth of baby boy to be any less special and exciting.

So last weekend my mom threw a lovely brunch with my closest friends and family.

We ate tons of delicious food made almost entirely by my mom and
my aunt and we played games, all in honor of this baby boy in my
belly.

Here we are playing "Measure the Mama". The guests had to cut a piece of ribbon that was long enough to fit around my {huge} belly and then hang the ribbon so we could see the length. Then I measured my belly and used that to see who was closest. It was hilarious. Some of them were SO long they were probably taller than me!

It was a beautiful morning. And people were so so generous. There were so many wonderful, adorable, thoughtful presents.

Here I am holding up a onesie my cousin made. It says "Wish my name was Vinnie Quinnie". My goofy smile in this picture is because I just finished laughing my tail off. How clever and hilarious! (Check out this post for the story behind the silly name.)

This
little guy is all set & is going to look adorable for the next year,
at least!

And of course, what's a party without cake? (It was carrot cake -- one of my faves -- and it was so so good!)

Monday, September 16, 2013

September 10th was a big day for Gia. Not only was it her first day of preschool, she also got her hair cut for the first time!

We've been meaning to cut her hair for a while now. Curly hair can be difficult to deal with and when you're a 3 year old who can barely sit still long enough for your mom to comb it, it can get messy. And full of knots.

My mom is a hairdresser, so you'd think we would have done a million hair cuts by now. We tried at the beginning of the summer, but every time my mom had time, Jon wasn't around. (I really wanted him to see her first hair cut.) Then my mom had foot surgery and couldn't work for 6 weeks.

Now that she's back to work, we were finally able to find a day that worked for everyone.

So after Gia's first morning at school and our quick cookie-baking session, we headed to Adora Bella Salon in Franklin Lakes to see Yadi. Gia was so excited!

The salon has a really cool chair just for kids. It looks like a regular
hair cutting chair--it goes up and down and swivels--but it's tinier
and has a "seat belt" to keep kids in. Gia climbed right up.

She didn't love the cape so much, so my mom put it on her backwards.
That way it still protected her clothes from the falling hair, but her
arms were free.

Rather than washing her hair in the huge (not to mention uncomfortable) sinks, my mom just used a spray bottle to wet her hair. And then the cutting started!

The whole thing took about 20 minutes and Gia loved it. She loved that
she was being treated like a big girl and she loved looking at herself
in the huge mirrors. She started to get antsy near the very end, but my
mom was just about done and so she sat still until the end.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

We've had an exciting few days over here. Gia had preschool orientation and Tuesday was her first day in the 3 year old class!

As I mentioned before, Gia does really well in new situations as long as she knows what to expect. I wasn't worried about her going to school at all for a variety of reasons. First of all, she's going to the same school and we had such a great experience there last year. And, 4 of her classmates from last year are in her class again this year, so it's not like she's going into a whole new group of kids. And most importantly, one of her teachers this year was her teacher last year! Talk about a really nice safety net for her school experience this year!

Monday we went to orientation. I reminded Gia that we'd be going to a new room at the same school and that Jean, her teacher from last year, would be there with a new teacher, Jeannie. I was going to stay with her the first day and the second day I was going to drop her off and then come back later to get her. She was a very excited, but also a little unsure. As we pulled up to orientation she asked "Are you going to stay with me?"

I was a little surprised at her apprehension but I reassured her I wasn't leaving. (In retrospect, I think this year was a tinge harder for her because she's older and she fully understands that I'm leaving her. When she first started school I don't think she fully grasped the concept of me leaving her until I'd already left and she'd had a great time, thus making it no big deal.) We had a great time checking out her new classroom and meeting her teachers. They did a modified version of the school day and Gia happily sat on the rug for circle time, sang songs, listened to her teachers and ate her snack.

Monday night Gia picked out her own outfit & went to bed early in preparation for the real FIRST DAY!

Tuesday morning was busy. We aren't used to getting up and out so fast in the morning. Although Gia is a total morning person, she likes to lounge around and eat some fruit, and then have breakfast and play and watch some tv before she gets dressed. Well, that couldn't happen Tuesday and Gia wasn't so sure of things. She said she didn't want breakfast and she wasn't going to go to school. She wasn't being difficult about it--this wasn't a 3 year old exerting her independence and shouting "I'm not going!" It was more of a quiet, sad, oh how unfortunate that I just can't go to school today Mommy kind of thing.

After a quick pep talk (about all the fun she'd have and how much her friends would miss her), she ate her waffle and was excited about school again.

She was all smiles and even let me take approximately 7 million pictures of her. And when it came time to drop her off and leave, she kissed us goodbye and ran off to play.

When we went back to pick her up, she was happy as a clam. She was so excited to see us and tell us about her day. She made a color wheel, painted, had a snack and got a sticker. A sticker is like gold to her.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Although the forecast wasn't great, we decided to head down the shore anyway on Labor Day to see my mom and stepdad, who were spending the weekend down there.

I'm so glad we did. The weather was great & Gia absolutely loves the beach.

Side note about Gia's pony tail: While we were in Wildwood, I insisted on putting Gia's hair in some kind of pony tail for the beach. (She really prefers cute little bows but I vetoed that idea because they do nothing to keep her hair out of her face and then she spends the day pushing her curls out of her way and getting sand all over face in the process.) Most days, the best I could convince her to do was a half pony tail. By the end of the week I convinced her to do 2 half pony tails--mini pigtails. She would not let me do a "big pony," which is what she calls a full pony tail. But, for my mom? She'll do anything. I didn't do a thing to her hair before we got to the beach. So when we arrived I handed my mom a pony tail holder and told Gia that Yadi needed to do her hair. No discussion, no issues...BAM! Adorable adorable "big pony".

I'm in love with these pictures of Gia rocking the "big pony," even though it makes her look so grown up!

She loves to collect shells and rocks and throw them back into the water.

If she wasn't running around by the water, she was on the beach chair, snuggling with Yadi.

My mom always has a cute beach hat with her, and this time, Gia found it and fell in love with it. She wore that sparkly fedora for hours! Most of the time it was pulled way lower than in this picture.

I'm not going to say this is the last beach day for a while. I'm still hoping for one more beach day before it's *officially* fall...